This invention relates to miniature electronic devices having two time informing sound generating functions, namely time signaling and alarm sound generating functions.
As miniature electronic devices such as miniature electronic calculators having a timepiece function that have been proposed in the past, there are those in which time signaling sound, for instance for every hour such as 0 o'clock, 1 o'clock and so forth, and also alarm sound for a given alarm time (specified by hour, minute and second data) are produced from a sound generator such as a piezoelectric buzzer.
In such a miniature electronic calculator or the like having both the time signaling and alarm sound generating functions, the sound generator such as a piezoelectric buzzer is driven from a single drive circuit at the time of producing the time signaling sound and also at the time of producing the alarm sound. In other words, the time signaling sound and alarm sound are produced with the same volume. Therefore, where the alarm time is set for awakening the user, it is likely that the user is awakened not by the alarm sound but by the time signaling sound. This is inconvenient for the user.
The invention is intended, in light of the above, to provide a miniature electronic device having a time informing sound generating function, in which the volume of the sound produced is controlled such that it is changed at the time of the time signaling sound generation and also at the time of the alarm sound generation.